The whole going to school bc you "think" it will get you higher pay doesn't even hold water
You can go online and research what careers are in need and what those careers pay then you can pick one that you think is of you aptitude or push yourself to one outside your aptitude. If there isn't one there that involves something you can do then look to the trades. If you can't do that. Then survival of the fitest.
I think this is why we need to focus more on this sort of thing in high school. Because it seems like we haven't caught up with reality.
When I look back decades within my own family (which was poor). You know my parents' generation, nobody went to college. So there was no need to worry about borrowing money. You got a job out of high school. In many cases, the military. My mother's family, well, the youngest uncle went to trade school, because there was money for it by then.
Within my own family, it was similar. Out of 9 children, I am the only one who went to college out of high school (and I borrowed money to do it). I'm #8. My eldest sibling was an X-ray tech. Number 2 got married and had kids, then went to college and got an MBA as an adult - as in, over 30 years old. One sister got a job and then took night classes to get her degree, for about 10 years. So the loan thing really wasn't much of an issue for them, because it wasn't "common".
In a town like mine, which is rural "what kinds of jobs are needed" are pretty simple, as it's a service-based town. Grocery clerks, teachers, plumbers, auto mechanics, prison guards, office assistants, nurses.
If you have any intention of "leaving" town, then the research gets a little bit trickier - partly because you are completely reliant on the internet for your research - there aren't adults who have personal experience to help you. (I cannot speak for the OP, but I'm 45, and the internet did not exist when I went to college and borrowed money.) The scary thing to think about is that more than 65% of jobs that will exist for my kids? Don't exist yet.
So anyway, you have a 17 year old kid who has to figure out "what to do with their life". There's research, but the hard part is that it's a little young to be deciding what you want to do, well, forever. If you are bombarded by people telling you "go to college", it can start to drown out any modicum of common sense, or thought of doing research. I mean, if you are 17, how do you know? We are relying on 17 year olds to make a good decision. When my dad was 17, he was about to go into WWII. My parents were still living at home at 17, 18, 20 for the most part, as were many of my older siblings. The ability to borrow a crap-ton of money simply didn't exist. So the risk of making a bad decision? Super low (well, except for my dad might not have survived the war).
I find it fascinating that people who are adults, and have clearly "made it" and have "made the right decisions" find it *very* easy to shit all over people who either made bad decisions, had bad luck, or trusted the wrong people/ places for advice.